October 29-30, 2023

 High of 53 and sunny. 

We sent to Forks to shop. Forks is where the Twilight books took place.  Vampire wine, And bigfoot.  We are now in La Push on the Olympic coast on the Quileute reservation. The beach is at our door step. It has large portions of the beach as pebbles. The bus at Oceanside resort and RV park. 

Totem pole at the office. Big waves on the beach today in our front yard.

John in the roots of a really big driftwood tree. The small black pebble beach. 

Sunset was lovely from our front yard.

I finished this basket. It is made from natural and dyed pine needles, polyester thread, glass and clay beads John got in Chile years ago. The center is  a piece of selenite that I found outside death valley that I shaped, sandblasted and painted petroglyph sheep being chased by a coyote. It is 10 x 8 x  2 inches. High of 58 and sunny. The marina in La Push. 

Two totem poles in La Push, the first on is for the coast guard and the second is at the marina, with a whale on it. They were loading up huge tubs of big black cod. We went back to Forks to get Halloween candy and saw this guy hiking across America. He said when he gets to La Push he will be done. He started in August 2021. sign in the bus station/rest area 'anything left here will be destroyed by the city of Forks'. This is Rialto beach. I loved it last time we hiked it, but you have to hike it at lower tides. The trail is the beach of small black pebbles and at high tide which you see here the waves go into the huge lots and roll them around. Not safe, we will wait till later in the week when the tides are later. The hike goes to the point in the distance to the sea stacks, on is called Hole in the Rock because hit has an arch in it, which at low tides you can walk through.

We hiked to Second beach instead. We are camped on first beach, which is in town. The trees here are mostly Sitka spruce instead of the red cedar and douglas fir farther inland. This area gets 12 feet of rain a year. 

John on the steps down the cliff to the beach. People put rocks and shells they picked up on the beach in these roots.

First view of the sea stacks through the trees. Sea stacks off the beach.

Cool shrubs and rocks. Three young ladies were coming back with their surf boards. They told John low tide is better for surfing and it is high tide now. It is at least a mile to the road from here, long way to carry them. 

More sea stacks. We can see all these from a distance from camp. A small stream on the beach.

Waterfall from the small stream with a Halloween tree overlooking. John at lunch. 

Fall leaf on the beach, beach art, sea gull foot prints in the sand, my feet in the surf. Not sure why the camera over exposed them, but they are not that white and an amanita mushroom. John starting up the trail to head back. 

I was working at the picnic table and looked up and the setting sun was shining though a hole in a log on the beach. There was a thin layer of clouds on the horizon that turned bright pink in the sunset. 

October 26-28 , 2023 Sol Duc Hot Springs, Olympic National Park, Washington

 High of 40, with wind and the sun came out. It was bitter cold.

Salmon Cascades on the Sol Duc River. When the salmon return in the fall to breed they jump up these rapids. Storm King Mountain. It is an old volcano and when it erupted the lava dammed up the glacier carved gorge forming Lake Crescent. 

Lake Crescent with Strom King Mountain at the far end. Don't tread on my redd. A redd is a nest the salmon make in the gravel to lay their eggs in the fall. The eggs hatch in the spring. Walking around in the area of the river can kill the salmon eggs. 

We hiked to Marymere Falls. In the bottom right corner you can see John crossing a bridge along the trail, made of a single huge log. Marymere Falls drops nearly 90 feet.

Marymere falls from the trail. A big tree growing over a really big rock. 

Ferns growing out of the moss on a tree trunk. The Storm King ranger station. We went to the hot springs when we got back. 

High of 40 and sunny with some wind. Not that you would know it was sunny in the deep dark forest. It was freezing cold. We hiked up Barnes Creek today. It was so freezing cold I didn't want to take my gloves off to take photos. A small fall on the trail. The rain/snow brought down most of the remaining fall leaves onto the ground and foliage. 

Fall leaves on the ground. 

John ducking under a huge log over the trail. Rain drops on a fern, a 10 inch mushroom, moss and ferns on a rock wall, puff balls, frosty leaves on the ground. 

We are at Sol Duc Hot springs in the Soleduck valley. Soleduck is the anglicized version of the Indian name of the valley meaning sparkling water. Sol Duc is the Spanish version meaning bright water. This is the Sol Duc valley. We soaked at the hot springs when we got back. 

It got to almost 40, was sunny with no wind. It was nice in the sun at our campsite, John spent the day smoking a pork loin and sitting in his lawn chair reading. I worked on a basket at the picnic table. I took my lunch out on the table and the camp robbers descended. They came right up to my plate while I was eating. We went to the hot springs before dinner while the roast was still smoking. 

October 24-25, 2023 Sol Duc Hot Springs, Olympic National Park, Washington

 High of 68. It rained all night and all day. A winter storm watch is in effect, it will snow tonight- but higher than we are at. 

We hiked the Big Tree trail to an overlook of the river. Big trees and carpets of moss. 

John on the trail in the rain. Big leaf maple trees with moss on the trunks and beautiful fall golden leaves. 

John with one of the massive trees in the rain. John thru the trees by a small creek.

Curvy and mossy trees. John on a bridge with fall colors.

We went to Crescent Lake to have lunch at the lodge. Crescent lake in the rain. Crescent Lake lodge is a very beautiful historic lodge. 

John in the dining room where we had a very nice lunch. The sunroom on the lodge with views of the lake. 

I went down to the lake to try to get some photos of the steam rising off the lake in the rain. Those photos did not come out, but here are some nice shots of the fall colors and rain on the lake. We soaked in the hot springs when we got back. 

34 degrees when John got up. It rained/snowed all night. We woke up to snow on the grass, the cars and roofs at our altitude, but right above us there was snow in the trees. Snow on the hot springs and lodge across the river. Snow on the cabin roof, cars and trees at a higher altitude. 

Snow on the peaks above us. Snow on the Sol Duc Hot springs sign, grass and the fern. 

Snow on the boats. We hung out inside, it was too cold outside. Then soaked in the hot springs.